What is Mother’s Day? Exploring Its History and Meaning

As we approach Mother's Day, we are reminded that God offers a steady source of love.

Mothers, this one’s for you. Mother's Day 2026 will happen on Sunday, 15 March and people young and old will be pausing to celebrate mums and other maternal figures, recognising the women whose care has left a lasting mark on their lives. 

The day may now seem to be established as an occasion for cards, flowers and breakfasts in bed – but over time it has undergone several changes.

The origins of Mother's Day

In the UK, what is now often called Mother’s Day is based on the older tradition of Mothering Sunday. In the Middle Ages, workers had the opportunity to return home on the fourth Sunday of Lent to visit their ‘mother church’ – the church where they were baptised or raised. While making the visit, many people who had moved away for work at a young age saw their families again, creating an important day of reunion.

Some time later, in the 17th century, the focus shifted slightly, becoming an occasion when servants would be given the day off specifically to visit their families.

In the US, Mother’s Day has a different history – and a different date, falling as it does on the second Sunday of May. It was the brainchild of Anna Jarvis, who organised the first such celebration of mothers in 1908 after the death of her own role-model mum.

By 1914, the US president had made it a national holiday, though Anna would later come to believe that the day – full of shop-bought cards and flowers whose prices had been inflated – had become too commercialised.

One spin-off of Anna’s creation, however, was that it inspired a renewed interest in celebrations on this side of the Pond. After seeing the growth of the US Mother’s Day, in 1921 Constance Adelaide Smith published The Revival of Mothering Sunday, in which she argued that internationally there was a strong tradition of honouring mothers on the fourth Sunday of Lent but that it needed greater recognition.

What Mother's Day means

Whenever the day falls, what really matters is that it is an opportunity to stop and thank the mothers and other influential women in our lives for the love and support they give us.

Having said that, it is a day that can stir up emotions that are far from simply joyful. For some people, it highlights an absence – someone who was never there, a relationship that never quite healed or a loss that still hurts no matter how much time has passed.

Mother’s Day can prompt gratitude, anger or grief – or a mixture of all three. The good news is that God meets us in all that complexity, offering us a love that doesn’t depend on our family background. 

The Bible records how he reassured people who were going through tough times: ‘As a mother comforts her son, so I will comfort you’ (Isaiah 66:13 Christian Standard Bible).

Whether the day brings celebration, sadness or something in between, we can all draw on a steady source of love.

If we choose to follow God, we can know that he will celebrate with us in joyful times, comfort us in grief and be there for us in every other situation every day.